Learn How to Identify and Battle Hidden SCN Threat at Field Days - UNL CropWatch, Aug. 5, 2011

Learn How to Identify and Battle Hidden SCN Threat at Field Days - UNL CropWatch, Aug. 5, 2011

August 5, 2011

Farmers and ag professionals can learn how to identify and manage soybean cyst nematode (SCN) at four UNL Extension SCN Management Field Days.

Last year, soybean cyst nematodes cost Nebraska soybean growers over $30 million, more than all other soybean diseases combined. If you have SCN in your fields and are not managing it, you contributed to that loss.

SCN often goes undetected in the field. Yield losses of 20-30% have been documented in Nebraska fields with no above-ground symptoms. If SCN caused holes, lesions, spots, or other plant abnormalities, it would be much easier to convince producers to test for and manage it. However, infested plants usually look healthy. The first indication of a problem is when soybean yields level off or even start to drop while corn or other crop yields in the same field continue to improve.

At each SCN Management Field Day site, you will be able to

see SCN resistant and susceptible soybean varieties in infested fields,

examine cysts on soybean roots,

learn how to identify and manage SCN infestations,

receive a kit for a free SCN analysis – a $20 value, and

get answers to your SCN questions.

Field Day Dates and Sites

Dates, times and locations of the 2010 Soybean Cyst Nematode Management Field Days are:

Thursday, August 11, 6:30 p.m. – Plainview, Ron Norris farm
From Plainview: Go 1 mile west on Hwy 20, 4 miles south on 535th Ave, ¾ mile west on 860th Rd; the site is on the north side

Wednesday, August 24, 6:30 p.m. – Louisville, Dozier Ag Research
From Louisville: Go 2 miles north on Hwy 50 (or 3.5 miles south of Springfield), turn west on Cornish Road; the site is on the north side

Wednesday, August 31, 6:30 p.m. – Seward, Don Peterson farm
From Seward: Go 2 miles south on Hwy 15 (or 3.5 miles north of I-80 Seward exit), 1.7 miles east on Fletcher Rd; the site is on the south side

Thursday, September 1, 6:30 p.m. – Auburn, Nate Johnson farm
From Auburn: Go 7.5 miles west on Hwy 136 (or .5 miles east of the junction of Hwys 105 & 136); the site is on the north sideof Hwy 136

Originally identified in counties bordering the Missouri River, soybean cyst nematode has been identified in 52 counties in eastern and central Nebraska as far west as Boyd, Holt, Valley, Buffalo, Kearney and Red Willow counties. As soybean production has moved across the state, so has the distribution of soybean cyst nematodes.

The Soybean Cyst Nematode Management Field Days are presented by UNL Extension with support from the Nebraska Soybean Board. For more information, contact your local UNL Extension office.